MOZART, W.A.: Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (Die) (Salzburg Festival, 2006)
Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (Abduction from the Seraglio), K. 384
Composer: Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Librettist/Text Author: Bretzner, Christoph Friedrich
Conductor: Bolton, Ivor
Orchestra: Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra
Chorus: Vienna State Opera Chorus
Chorus Master: Schuller, Andreas
Belmonte: Castronovo, Charles
Blonde: Farcas, Valentina
Konstanze: Aikin, Laura
Osmin: Hawlata, Franz
Pedrillo: Kerschbaum, Dietmar
Set Designer: Pilz, Gottfried
Costume Designer: Pilz, Gottfried
Lighting Designer: Lindenberg, Konrad
Stage Director: Herheim, Stefan
Television Director: Simerda, Tomas
Date of Production: 2006
Festival: Salzburg Festival
Venue: Haus fur Mozart, Salzburg
Playing Time: 02:37:00
Catalogue Number: A04001470
Libretto
Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (Abduction from the Seraglio), K. 384 DE
Synopsis
Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (Abduction from the Seraglio), K. 384
Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (Abduction from the Seraglio), K. 384
The plot couldn't be simpler: the Spanish nobleman Belmonte must free his fiancee Konstanze, her English maid Blonde and Belmonte's servant Pedrillo from the clutches of the Turkish Bassa, or Pasha, Selim. Belmonte must sneak into the pasha's seraglio and sneak back out again, all the while eluding and outsmarting Osmin, the overseer of the harem. With his Salzburg production of 2003, young Norwegian director Stefan Herheim raised a storm of controversy that continued to crackle in 2006, when the production was revised for the Mozart 22 cycle.
Giving powerful accounts of their difficult roles is a top-notch cast dominated by Laura Aikin as Konstanze and Charles Castronovo as Belmonte. With her elegiac Andante arias, Aikin is an oasis of calm and nobility. Castronovo suggests his own vulnerability with his wonderfully lyrical timbre. At the head of the Mozarteum Orchestra, Ivor Bolton once again confirms his reputation as a dynamic and sensitive interpreter of Baroque and Classical operas. The clarity and wisdom of his music-making provide an astute contrast to the turbulent activity on stage. Indeed, the marriage of orchestra and voices evokes the image of the stage of life: on the surface, everything is in motion; below, order rules - but it is an order that is often lost in everyday life.
